RELG 2650 Exam Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Torah
five books of Moses that constitute Law- the foundation of Jewish ethics
Talmud
set of debates and the law: moral code
Rabbis develop Talmud is a record of debates
casuistry
the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of
general ethical principles; specious argument- past cases
Judaism and Covenant - Noahide Covenant, Covenant with Israel
God makes a covenant with Noah that he wouldn't destroy the world with flood but don't kill
Sets moral law for all people
God embraces a covenantal relationship with the people of Israel
Covenant with Abraham
Elliot Dorff's list of fundamental Jewish themes/beliefs regarding health care
Elliot Dorff: Jewish; conservative Rabbi
3 fundamental themes:
Body belongs to God
We receive body (& all the world) as a gift ⇒ must care for it
Body is neutral
Good when we use it to follow Law
Help God preserve & protect the world
God allows people to act for the good
Medicine:
Medical professionals have special duty in regard to care for the world
Ex: Moses Maimonides
Gilbert Meilaender's set of tensions in Christian thought (autonomy and community, etc.)- writes on
Lutheran tradition
Lutheran- Christian bioethics
Focus on paradoxes, which reflect Christian themes:
One God in three persons → Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Christ is fully human & fully divine
Humans are free but all is governed by divine providence
Autonomy & Community:
God calls each person by name so each person has great dignity
BUT we are also social creatures
Christians are saved as part of a community, the Church ⇒ have duties to others
Free & Finite:
Humans have free will & a spirit that transcends physical creation, create technologies that transform
nature
BUT this is also a responsible freedom under God's law
Follow God's commands to steward our bodies & nature, bound by physical limitations
Providence & Freedom:
All is in God's hands, so we should trust in God's care
BUT also have a duty to care for others
Embodied Personhood:
, Spiritual beings called to eternal life BUT bodies are essential parts of us
Bodies are good, so we are called to care for them & accept them
Suffering:
Suffering is not a good & we should avoid it BUT God brings good out of suffering
Roman Catholicism
All Christians who are in communion with the Pope ⇒ single teaching authority
Natural Law
Our nature is fundamentally good as created by God
Sin darkens natural reason, so cannot clearly see the good
Scripture
holy and sacred text- literal voice or word of God/inspired
Clarifies darkened reason & reveals things not open to reason
magisterium
Church's teaching authority helps to clarify disagreements in tradition & apply it to new issues
Sharia
Foundation of Islamic bioethics - religious law; Similar to other systems of law and casuistry
Quran
Revelation from God directly to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel
Sunna
sayings and deeds of the prophet and his companions (hadith)
It is a tradition, but one with great authority
Qiya
casuistry of legal scholars
Consequentialism
consequences of action
Common form is utilitarianism - greatest good for greatest number
Many forms look at pleasure and pain as most morally important aspects of life
Very little protection for the individual
Only considers those who can experience happiness - no protection for infants, those with disabilities,
etc.
If it increases general happiness, then some people can be freely enslaved, tortured, killed, etc.
No action is intrinsically immoral
Deontolgy
Duty, obligation, law
Ethics is a matter of determining & following inviolable moral norms
Ethical action is action from devotion to Immanuel Kant
Moral norms everyone must follow regardless of desire or extenuating circumstances
Torah
five books of Moses that constitute Law- the foundation of Jewish ethics
Talmud
set of debates and the law: moral code
Rabbis develop Talmud is a record of debates
casuistry
the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of
general ethical principles; specious argument- past cases
Judaism and Covenant - Noahide Covenant, Covenant with Israel
God makes a covenant with Noah that he wouldn't destroy the world with flood but don't kill
Sets moral law for all people
God embraces a covenantal relationship with the people of Israel
Covenant with Abraham
Elliot Dorff's list of fundamental Jewish themes/beliefs regarding health care
Elliot Dorff: Jewish; conservative Rabbi
3 fundamental themes:
Body belongs to God
We receive body (& all the world) as a gift ⇒ must care for it
Body is neutral
Good when we use it to follow Law
Help God preserve & protect the world
God allows people to act for the good
Medicine:
Medical professionals have special duty in regard to care for the world
Ex: Moses Maimonides
Gilbert Meilaender's set of tensions in Christian thought (autonomy and community, etc.)- writes on
Lutheran tradition
Lutheran- Christian bioethics
Focus on paradoxes, which reflect Christian themes:
One God in three persons → Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Christ is fully human & fully divine
Humans are free but all is governed by divine providence
Autonomy & Community:
God calls each person by name so each person has great dignity
BUT we are also social creatures
Christians are saved as part of a community, the Church ⇒ have duties to others
Free & Finite:
Humans have free will & a spirit that transcends physical creation, create technologies that transform
nature
BUT this is also a responsible freedom under God's law
Follow God's commands to steward our bodies & nature, bound by physical limitations
Providence & Freedom:
All is in God's hands, so we should trust in God's care
BUT also have a duty to care for others
Embodied Personhood:
, Spiritual beings called to eternal life BUT bodies are essential parts of us
Bodies are good, so we are called to care for them & accept them
Suffering:
Suffering is not a good & we should avoid it BUT God brings good out of suffering
Roman Catholicism
All Christians who are in communion with the Pope ⇒ single teaching authority
Natural Law
Our nature is fundamentally good as created by God
Sin darkens natural reason, so cannot clearly see the good
Scripture
holy and sacred text- literal voice or word of God/inspired
Clarifies darkened reason & reveals things not open to reason
magisterium
Church's teaching authority helps to clarify disagreements in tradition & apply it to new issues
Sharia
Foundation of Islamic bioethics - religious law; Similar to other systems of law and casuistry
Quran
Revelation from God directly to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel
Sunna
sayings and deeds of the prophet and his companions (hadith)
It is a tradition, but one with great authority
Qiya
casuistry of legal scholars
Consequentialism
consequences of action
Common form is utilitarianism - greatest good for greatest number
Many forms look at pleasure and pain as most morally important aspects of life
Very little protection for the individual
Only considers those who can experience happiness - no protection for infants, those with disabilities,
etc.
If it increases general happiness, then some people can be freely enslaved, tortured, killed, etc.
No action is intrinsically immoral
Deontolgy
Duty, obligation, law
Ethics is a matter of determining & following inviolable moral norms
Ethical action is action from devotion to Immanuel Kant
Moral norms everyone must follow regardless of desire or extenuating circumstances
